I'm currently in the process of shopping for a good body shop to do some sheetmetal repairs on my 1972 350sl.
I haven't a clue as to what is a reasonable or unreasonabe price to pay for the work I want to have done, ie. oem wind shield, driver side floor pan, driver side cowl repair and left and right rocker panel repair.
Hatch and Sons in Wayland, Massachusettes quoted me approximately $9,000.00 for the glass and sheetmetal repairs.
Their quote for a strip to metal paint job was $20,000.00 !
The car has had one previous owner and is in very good original condition with 93k plus miles, but to me it's not worth putting that kind of money into.
I know Hatch and Sons has an excellent reputation and
i'll get at least one other estimate, but are these the figures I should expect to be hearing? The car is definately a clean keeper.
I'm considering repairing the rockers myself, They actually aren't that bad from what I can see, just rotted out around the front jack points. Otherwise the balance of the under carriage is solid.
Any thoughts, suggestions and or experiences appreciated.

Dear Knarf,
I'm not too familiar with your regional prices, but that seems rather exuberent, especially if it is in American dollars......I feel a serious dose of shopping around is in order. I do know that replacement panels and floors are available from K&K Manufacturing - note especially the 'patches' (I think there may be one for the rocker panel) - it might help to cut costs if you got the panels yourself rather than through the body shop who is doing the work. One has to start somewhere, I suppose. The bankers love me since I got my 107.
Good luck,
Daniel.

$20,000 sounds really excessive. I've done business with a big shop in Dallas called Details, Inc., reputed to be the best in town for non-custom work. Everyone I know who's used them, including me, has been kind of stunned by their attention to detail. I asked for a (non-binding) quote on my '83 and he said around $5,000, down to bare metal, Mercedes paint, etc. That assumed no significant body work, and he said there were often big surprises under molding and other hidden places that trap moisture (which would be especially true in MA, I imagine.) $5,000 seemed awfully low to me, but it didn't seem like a come-on, because he was telling me I really should take it to one of those super custom shops. (I think he was afraid I'd be too perfectionistic.) He said the place he was talking about would probably be around $10,000.

I had a rough quote for $6000 but it could go to $10,000 from a premier shop. This includes replacing a couple of fenders and a rocker panel. If you want a show quality job it could cost in the $20,000 range. The car will most likely never be worth it. If you are just going to drive it, go to a shop that will use K&K parts and only repair what is really shot. I have pulled off the mouldings and done spot repairs to forstall a complete metal and paint job. If I repaint the car I won't want to drive it so much. Now, I will take it anywhere, anytime. It still looks good...

I just bought a 77 slc in Houston that had been repainted 3 years ago. The job is not absolutely show quality, but it only costs $1,300. The problem with putting that kind of money into a car that old is that you will never ever get it back. That car in 12 out of 10 condition would never fetch more than $10,000. If the car were some sort of special edition that might bring $50,000 in a few years I would say go for it, but it sounds as if you are trying to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.

The net is full of sl's for half of what you will pay just for the paint job. Check out slc"s. They are a better looking car and sell for about half to two thirds of what the sl's go for.